Andre Berto and the Welterweight division

By Kevin Wrigley: Only 2-3 years ago the 147 pound division was stacked form top to bottom with excellent boxers. Historically it has been one of boxing’s stronger divisions (especially at the start of the 1980’s). Floyd Mayweather Jr was at the top of the pile then there were excellent fighters such as Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Paul Williams and Shane Mosley. Slightly lower down the pyramid was teak tough Ghanaian Joshua Clottey, the power punching Kermit Cintron and southpaw spoiler Luis Collazo. You also had the rising star that was Andre Berto, who went on to win one of Floyds vacated belts.

Now Berto finds himself in an unusual position. He is a carefully manufactured fighter by HBO who looks like he may have it too late to step up in competition. 147 has changed significantly- Paul Williams, Kermit Cintron, Antonio Margarito, Luis Collazo, Joshua Clottey and Miguel Cotto have moved up to heavier divisions. Manny Pacquiao has entered the ranks and is facing Shane Mosley. Floyd Mayweather is going to court for a number of charges and it looks like he won’t be fighting soon anyway, if ever again. There has really been no mention of either of these guys taking on Berto. Don King has reported a interest of matching Mayweather up against Devon Alexander if he beats Timothy Bradley this weekend. These two top P4P entrants have bigger fish to fry than Berto, no disrespect intended to him. Indeed Pacquiao could look at the winner of Alexander-Bradley for his next bout, or look to a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez.

Fans are really becoming critical of Berto after his last fight which was a one round wipe out of Freddy Hernandez. Many fans are saying how this was a disgraceful fight against an easy opponent. While this may be a bit harsh (Hernandez had stopped Dermarcus Corley, a rare occurrence) the ease of how he took out Hernandez and Larry Merchants questioning his level of opposition, has led to fans looking negatively at him. Let’s look at the facts. He beats a part time fireman in Miguel Angel Rodriguez for a world title (who had lost to an old Baldomir a few years before). Luis Collazo lost a very debatable decision to him and never got a rematch. He then beat 140 champ Juan Urango and looked very tentative which was followed by 140 pounds Devon Alexander knocking Urango out. A decent win over Quintana (mainly a 154 fighter though at that point) followed this.

Reportedly Berto has been looking to face Selcuk Aydin (20-0, 15 KO) which would make sense for HBO as Aydin is another of there products. He did not look too impressive last time out ‘beating’ Ionut Dan Ion with a rather poor judging decision. While Aydin can bang he is several leagues below an Andre Berto. This is the best available at 147 besides Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr (with the exception of a old Mosley who I really believe will retire after Pacquiao stops him). He also apparently wants to face Lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez and light welter Victor Ortiz. Berto can either stay in this barren division and take on these ‘highly ranked guys’ which HBO keep feeding him for big bucks, or he can make a big step. Personally I would like to see him move down to 140. At 5 foot 8 he is rather large but he has a very broad physique. If he could shed some muscle without draining himself I am sure he would be able to compete with the likes of Bradley, Alexander, Khan, Maidana or Judah. A fight against Judah (should he get by Kaizer Mabuza) would be a good fight for the fans. Boxing fans would like to see him make do something as Mayweather and Pacquiao have other more established opponents to contend with. He doesn’t need to do it, he’s getting large amounts plenty by HBO, but it will say a lot about his character.

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